Our sister blog Stick a Fork In It reported this morning that Killer Shrimp might be opening a second location in Newport Beach later this summer. We spoke this morning to Chris Reda, a manager at Marina del Rey, who tells us that a lease has not been signed yet, but they're very interested in a particular waterfront site.

Reda informed us that in April, an offshoot called Killer Cafe will open next door to the Marina del Rey location and serve breakfast and lunch from as early as 7 or 8 a.m. He tells us the Cafe concept is so new that a specific menu has not been written, so couldn't comment on any particulars.

Why all this sudden growth? We learned at the time the Marina del Rey location opened last August that management retooled the decades-old original menu with an eye to expanding into a multi-unit restaurant. The original menu once consisted of only the Cajun-boiled shrimp, but it expanded greatly to include other kinds of seafood, steaks and an extensive appetizer selection. Also new was a full bar with signature cocktails. Paul Cerrito, the general manager at that time, told us that the bigger menu was rolled out to appeal to a broader audience that might want more than just the eponymous shrimp dish. Cerrito told us, "We're relaunching and rebranding, and this [Marina del Rey] will be our flagship store."

When we asked, "Are they all going to be within L.A.?" Cerrito replied, "It's a start. I don't want to get too far presumptuous or too far ahead of myself, but I do know that's there's a handful of locations slated to open fairly quickly," declining to state what those plans entailed.

This morning, Reda informed us that they'd like to open two locations each year, with Las Vegas also in the crosshairs.We'll keep you informed as we learn more about their plans to take over the world one spicy shrimp at a time.